The equity researchers who were let go in Nomura’s aggressive bloodletting earlier this year are proving eminently re-employable. After seven found jobs at rival banks, another has just become head of investor relations at Marks & Spencer.

Fraser Ramzan spent over seven and a half years at Nomura covering general retail stocks. Prior to that he spent seven and a half years at Lehman covering retail and ten years at Lehman covering hotels and leisure. Basically, he’s very experienced.

Fraser joined M&S as head of investor relations this month after just a month out of the market. M&S previous head of investor relations was Majda Rainer.

Zaki Ahmed at Financial Search Limited said moving from equity research to investor relations is still popular. “Researchers are still keen to make the transition to investor relations – especially when it means moving to a corporate they like and where they have a solid relationship with management. For some analysts, however, investor relations can be seen as a step down unless there’s a strategy component to the role.”

Base salaries have risen in investor relations. The head of investor relations for a big corporate can earn a salary of £200k. However, bonuses are a maximum of £50k, whereas in banks bonuses can be six figures.

The upside to investor relations roles is that working hours are more clement than in investment banking. Investor relations professionals on £200k can expect to work from 9am to 6pm, whereas equity analysts in investment banks can expect to work from 6.45am to 7pm.